Aaron Hayes of Northeast Portland-based Courage Bicycle Mfg. drew a lot of attention for the imaginative details on this bike he made for his girlfriend. It features S & S couplers and a rare combination of a Schlump 2-speed crankset and two “Dos Enos” cassettes in the rear.(Photo: Aaron Hayes)

Aaron Hayes — who won “Best New Builder” at NAHBS 2008 — took home the “Builder’s Choice” award. Hayes wowed the crowds with a town bike he made for his girlfriend. The bike had a distinctive mix of classic looks and innovative parts that included S & S Couplers (which allow the bike to be easily taken apart for shipping/travel), a Schlump 2-speed crankset (shifts by kicking it with your foot), and two Dos Enos cassettes in the rear (which allow you to change gears on a singlespeed just by loosening the axle and moving your chain — instead of doing the flip-flop).

An internal shifting mechanism is a bit innovative, two gears/one chainring. How many 2-speed handmade steel bikes have you seen at REI. I understand what you mean though. I was talking with Aaron earlier today and we discussed the innovation situation. I don’t know if innovation is necessary in the bike industry. Lots of things have been innovation for innovation’s sake, ie. 11-speed shifting.

I kinda have to agree with #1. For the most part these bikes look like, well, bikes. Yeah, they’re nice looking bikes, and I’m sure all the components are pretty high quality, but innovative? Not so much. The unique tandem gearing is very cool, as are the wooden bikes, though I get the feeling that wooden bikes have a long history to them, but the craftsmanship on the ones in the show are very nice.

They said the same thing about computers in the 1980s. The only thing that is perfect is the thing that people willingly decide to stop making better. It seems like most of the ‘innovation’ these days are retro ideas from years past (the Renovo excepted).

#1 – recumbents are innovative as compared to uprights only in the sense that the basic concept is only ~110 years old rather than ~130. zing!

#6 – effective internal gearing in the bottom bracket *is* innovative. sure, it was *done* in the 30s and earlier, but not well. the schlumpf drive crankset has been around for almost 2 decades, but still, in most peoples eyes, its quite new, especially in this country.

for those of you who are moaning about the lack “innovation”, pray tell, what is it you want? jonathan only uses the word once, and two of the three components he mentioned in association with it were considered innovative at their introduction – the s&s coupling, and the schlumpf. both are still fantastic components that have not been really further improved upon. fine, theres nothing innovative about the dos enos – but 2-speed freewheels have been a rarity for decades – its awesome that theyre producing these, even at their astronomical price.

I would like a derailleur that doesn’t need adjusting every two weeks, can be adjusted easily, and doesn’t break indefinitely after 2 months of riding. That would be the holy grail of innovation for me, and I’ve yet to own a bike, expensive or cheap, where the derailleur isn’t a constant source of frustration. Just my 2 cents.

#11: Think about using a 7 to 9 speed hub instead of derailleurs. Comparable range of gear-inches (without the duplication, overlaps, and unusable crank-sprocket combos), with a much stronger rear wheel (no dishing) and an enclosed chain (a clean chain is a happier chain).

WRT your current derailleur problems— sounds like you’re doing it wrong. Maybe stomping too hard in the high gears, or using the radicals that were never designed for use, or throwing the bike down on the pavement on the derailleur side.